Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Single-Ad-3260 t1_j498p4r wrote

Light rail in a 2nd tier city doesn’t work. There will never be enough ridership.

1

gthc21 t1_j49aq49 wrote

Hm. Tell that to literally every small European city with extensive tram networks and a third of the metro population as us.

3

gthc21 t1_j49at44 wrote

May I remind you we were a larger city than DC only until recently, and they have a massive metro system.

4

Single-Ad-3260 t1_j49c2l1 wrote

DC is a 1st tier city. Nova is 3million people. Moco and pgco are two most populous md counties.

2

gthc21 t1_j49cgm5 wrote

What do you think one of the factors that allowed rapid growth of NOVA was? NOVA has nearly doubled since the 90s.

3

Single-Ad-3260 t1_j49d2qi wrote

Light rail and metro work well in first tier cities. They do not work well in second tier cities. Baltimore is a second tier city. Is there one American second tier city in which light rail works well, and by well I mean rider ship?

It is not being short sighted to point out that car centric suburbs of second tier cities do not support through ridership numbers a light rail system.

2

todareistobmore t1_j49u8cc wrote

> DC is a 1st tier city.

It wasn't when their Metro was built. Funny how that works, isn't it?

3

Single-Ad-3260 t1_j49z804 wrote

Dc has always been a first tier city, well before the metro. Baltimore will never be a first tier city.

1

Single-Ad-3260 t1_j49az91 wrote

That population was never car centric. Putting the genie back in the bottle has not been successful in an American second tier city.

2

gthc21 t1_j49buq0 wrote

The alternative is remaining in car purgatory.

3

Single-Ad-3260 t1_j49dl2y wrote

Or you can live in an urban area. Or you can have an E-bike in the suburbs. Lots of other choices I’m sure. If we are switching from gas to electric cars that don’t pollute what does it matter?

2

gaiusjuliusweezer OP t1_j4cg8rj wrote

“I’ve read one Wikipedia article” tier knowledge

1

Single-Ad-3260 t1_j4dcbag wrote

I stated facts not opinion. Light rail doesn’t work in a second tier city. I asked if there were any examples, you knew, of an American second tier city in which light rail was built and has high ridership. What facts do you present to someone who does not believe in facts?

1

gaiusjuliusweezer OP t1_j4e0ui6 wrote

Because “2nd tier city” isn’t something you’ve even defined. It’s just something that sounds like knowledge.

Light rail as practiced in the United States is usually done poorly. Not sure why you think I would disagree.

But there is a difference between trying to fit light rail into a post-war, auto-oriented context without accompanying land use changes

1